I’m not Usually This Feminist Like.

I don’t normally consider myself a feminist. I am an independent female with traditional values. I don’t need a guy to open my doors or pull out my chairs or check my oil. I do believe in marriage and waiting with sex until marriage. But I’m not naïve enough to think that there isn’t sex before marriage going on. I’m hesitant on a position on abortion because it’s a beating heart but then how far do you go with laws telling women what they can or can’t do with their bodies. Do we have laws telling men not to get fixed?I really am conflicted about this and not being sarcastic because I hate the killing of a child but when a law is made by a group made of a lot of men about something that could affect me or someone I love, I want a little bit more say. Not the point. All this prefaces that I may talk about woman empowerment today. (This might not all be coherent)

I was watching this thing on YouTube during my break and it was about the women in Harry Potter. I guess when I read the series, I didn’t think of the role of the woman. After watching this video, I see it and I’m glad that J.K. Rowling put so much thought into the role of women and men in her books and showed strong women. I’ve seen several interviews with Rowling and I’m sincerely impressed by her and her outlook on things. I’d totally hang out with her. Do coffee or supper or something. The video, which I linked, is very well done and lots of great thoughts. If you have kids, male or female children, have them watch this video. It gets the message across that women do have a power, but power that you have isn’t necessarily great. Watch it, you’ll understand that. I don’t think that the men in the Harry Potter series aren’t strong and don’t have their own admirable attributes because they are amazing men, it’s just I feel like women in literature sometimes are pushed to the back and aren’t thought about as much. That’s not all books but there’s a lot of books where the woman isn’t thought about or their strength gets taken away. Like yesterday I was talking about Callie and Kayden and how in one book he was kind of the rock and this book she was the rock. Kayden gave Callie her strength back.

There are a lot of books (and in real life as well) where the woman doesn’t have the power or finds her power with a man. Don’t get me wrong, you are stronger with two people than one but figure out your own strength too. If the guy helps you find that strength great but don’t necessarily base that strength on him. Like Callie was strong before she had Kayden but found more strength with him. Both of my grandmas have lost husbands and have carried on and been strong. Heck my dad’s dad, Grandpa Karl, died at 45 with a 10-year-old son and a grandkid on the way and my grandma has made it through just fine. A woman who can’t survive life without a man gets under my skin very quickly. Form your own opinions. You might not always have him. And I know I talk a lot about finding the perfect guy and marrying and pooping out babies but look what I’m doing with my life now. I’m living on my own, I build my own book shelves, check my oil/put air in my tires, take my car in for maintenance, get groceries. I take care of myself which can be seen as a sort of power. Yes, I do break down every once in a while, more than I want to but that isn’t a bad thing. Our cracks and breaks and especially our tears help us build on our strength and shows we have something in us.

They were also talking in the video about how there’s different kind of women with different strengths. There’s the mother strength which is important, there’s the crazy strength like you should be institutionalized. You can’t be every kind of strength. Like I don’t have the strength to be a single mother, I can take care of myself but not more than myself.

Now, I know that this might not all make sense but point is, and this is quite Oprah like (someone notify her that I’m talking like her), find your strength. Find what makes you important. I apologize for having more than one post today and blowing your mind but I started writing this for tomorrow and I couldn’t stop and here we are. I promise I won’t have another post until tomorrow.

Callie and Kayden Forever!

I finished The Redemption of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorenson last night. With the first book, I stayed up to all hours of the morning finishing it and then spent quite a bit of time mad at the ending for making me wait for this book. I pre-ordered, it popped up on my nook yesterday. I was excited because did Kayden die? Did Callie say what was going on? What happened to these two? Well, didn’t take me long to finish.

There are some spoilers so if you haven’t read it and plan to and you don’t want to know some details, just turn back now. If you really don’t care, forge on.

Honestly, I loved the first 3/4 of the book. Then the ending. What? It was good and all ends were sort of taken care of but in my head, that’s not how it ends. Granted, I know I’m not writing the book nor am I an author but I always thought that Callie and Kayden would work out great together but it seemed to be almost a little too tidy. Parents left, found a brother and family history, guy who raped Callie went to jail, peace. Fantastic, things worked out. But I thought there would be a little more angst at the ending. The first book had angst, and rightfully so with all the pain going on, and I was just hoping there was more at the end. I didn’t want it all fixed and it felt almost all fixed. There were also time lapses at the end of this book like the author wanted to just finish the book all ready. I keep going back and forth on how I feel about that. I did like that when the point of view changed it picked up about 2 paragraphs before the last person ended. It didn’t necessarily do that in the last book or maybe it did and this book just did it better. But I like it. That part of the book was brilliant.

They had a lot of sex. I mean, why not right? But just……I don’t know. I was over it by the end. I get the why of the sex, I do. They’re just super active. But if I had a boyfriend like Kayden, I’d probably jump him a lot too. And I love that Callie is still kind of innocent in this area. There was one part of it and Kayden made a reference and she didn’t get it and I was like that’s so cute. It’s kind of sad that I’m picking up on innuendos and she’s not. I would have gotten that reference at her age. (that just made me feel old at 25 and way more experienced at sex than I really am)

I talked about the ending, so let’s talk about that beginning. Hmmmm. It was a nice transition from the fist book into this book. Kayden pulls away from Callie and I was like WTF man? But the more I thought about it the more it made sense. He was going through stuff, he was destructive, he was cutting. At that time, he wasn’t good for Callie. BUT I understand Callie’s persistence. Kayden pretty much stood up for her honor and was falling in love with Kayden. You fight for something like that. I feel like in the first book Kayden kind of took the strong role and Callie took it in this book. That’s what makes them perfect together.

Family and music played a large role in this book and I think it was a bigger thing than in the first book. Callie’s family was like super intense and was all Kayden hating and kind of went Romeo and Juliet about it. “You can’t see him, he hurt Caleb and Caleb is like family” Yeah, didn’t like Caleb so much when you found out he raped your daughter at 12 did you? Then Callie’s brother started acting like a brother at the end. My brother would have taken my word at the beginning because why would I lie about that? But then my brother is 7 years older than I am so his friends didn’t really look at me.

Then there was the music. I think there was a lot of songs flung around in this book compared to the last book. Music was definitely a mood setter in this book.

There was one line in the book that stood out to me and I don’t know why. When Kayden was being destructive and they were in California and Kayden was like “let’s take a break” and they were at the club, I think it was Seth that said “Don’t worry, big, strong Kayden will protect you”. That was a running theme for them in this book. They were protecting each other and they talked a lot about it and I don’t know why but that one line just jumped out at me because Kayden did protect Callie and vice versa. When Kayden needed to, he was a man when it came to protecting Callie. It’s amazing that at 19 a character, although fictional, has it figured out to protect his woman and there are real, live 40 year-olds that haven’t figured that out.

So overall. I love the writing. I love the characters. I still want a book just about Luke. I don’t really care as much about Seth, though a great character and I’m glad he found someone and got past his issues. Luke just seems to have like this great back story and I want him to fall in love, like Callie and Kayden. I like him more to have a spin-off than Young Ian in Outlander and I love him and Rachel. I just love Luke. He’s a guy I’d go for, he’d just have to stop smoking. You know I like a book when I pick it apart as much as I have this post. And I know it seems like I’m all over the place with this post, but it makes sense in my head and that’s what matters.

It was a great book. I’d definitely re-read. I read through it super fast yesterday so a re-read is in the future.

Will They Make It?

Pre Post Script. I was going to name this post something about redemption but I didn’t want it to be to cliché because of the title of the book. Now you may proceed.

The first book I read of the year, and the first post of the year, came from a book called The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden. I stayed up until 3 in the morning to finish it and then there was another hour of me being mad at the cliffhanger ending. I would compare this cliffhanger to the Cliffs of Insanity in “The Princess Bride”. Luckily, I had New Years Day off so it didn’t matter I was up most of the night. (I was up at 8 anyway. And I haven’t been awake at 4 in the morning since like ever) Go read that post to find out more about that book and how I felt about it. I didn’t expect to like it. But I did. Obviously, since I stayed up until all hours of the morning.

All this to say the sequel popped up on my nook today. If I didn’t have people in the museum, I’d pretty much be jumping up and down and clapping my hands like a school girl. Is it okay that I have been reading while I work? And for any questions out there, let me answer that question. Yes, Outlander would get that kind of reaction too. There is no way in hell you’d hand me that book and I wouldn’t read it. As sad as this is, I’m like a third of the way through it all ready. I know I haven’t talked about it much but I was totally excited about this book to come out and I forgot that it was coming out today. Hence the almost child-like reaction when it popped up on my nook. (I had it pre-ordered)

Reading this makes me wonder about parents. I was recently talking to one of my librarians and we were discussing discipline in children and how 40 years ago was so different from now because of how parents discipline their kids. 40 years ago seemed so harsh and now it seems so lenient. To me anyway. I don’t have kids and probably won’t for a long time. But from what I’ve noticed from just observing, there are lots of things I wouldn’t let my kids do that I see people allowing. I was lucky that I knew my limits growing up and didn’t push them to much and that my parents set the limits but still let me make my own decisions.

This book also makes me think about sturdy relationships. Not like me and boy relationships but the ones both people are fully in. Because let’s face it, boy and I were barely in like and we knew each other for like 2 weeks. Who are we kidding? Who was I kidding? The thing that I’ve always had with Callie and Kayden is that they truly do like/love each other and they help each other through situations but their not good situations. I don’t want to give away the first book but these are scary things to deal with as a freshman in college. I love them together but I’m scared for their situation. I constantly ask myself if they’ll make it. Not just as a couple, but just in general. Wait……their fictional characters. I don’t have to be worried. They’re not real. I get involved in my books, can you tell?

I think that Jessica Sorenson did a fantastic job at creating a realistic world.

I don’t think I have anything left to talk about. I WILL be having a review of this book. I do have definite opinions about this book all ready and I’m only a third of the way through.

So to randomly change the subject, I was telling my mom about my shelf making adventure that I talked about yesterday and she was amazed that I would make my own shelves. Yes, I am a big kid and the only thing I messed up on was I got the backing turned around. Why is my mom constantly surprised about my amazingness? She shouldn’t be.

Claire and Frank……and Shelving.

So exhausting weekend. Saturday had 114 visitors at the museum, author signing and 74 floats made, community band performance, signs put out and brought back in, 3 trips to the store for more root beer. I’m really not recovered from that. But I haven’t blogged for a while, so I thought I’d better get on that.

Originally, I was going to do a little rant on the little episode with boy that happened. But no, not worth the time thinking about it. Let’s just say, I think I may have people starting a boy hate club……that I’m not involved in because it’s not worth my time. And I ranted about it to my friend MJ about it so all the anger is out of my system.

I bought myself some bookshelves last night because I need bookshelves and they were on sale. Mentally, I’m thinking (best way to do some thinking is mentally right?) “I can put these shelves together. I’m a young, somewhat intelligent young woman that can read directions.” It shouldn’t be hard. No, it shouldn’t be and it really wasn’t but you give me all these nails to pound in and you don’t really tell me where they go. You just tell me they connect the backing to the rest of the piece. I like when you give me the exactness of a project. Like in knitting or crocheting a pattern will tell you, cast on 208, do this stitch, do that stitch, repeat. Ta-da. You have an afghan. No they just threw in the nails and said go and nail. Give me numbers. Give me the exactness of where they go. Did you get lazy and just not care anymore so you didn’t put where the nails go? And this isn’t because I don’t know how to put a nail in where I want it to go because I’m mighty handy with a hammer. It’s because I know not everyone is me and doesn’t know how to hammer.

I just had a long texting conversation with my sister on if when you blow on skin if it’s raspberries or sherbert. I’ve never heard sherbert. We didn’t have a name for it growing up, we just did them and we did them rarely. On the Sims games its raspberries so that’s what I’m basing my opinion on.

That was a waste of time. Now with MOBY (Book 8 of Outlander) coming out in March, I’ll periodically be talking about things of the series. More than I have. More fan-girl-y. Let’s start talking about Claire and Frank, because we start the series with them.

The first time I read the series, (because, let’s face it, there has been multiple readings) I didn’t mind Frank in the first book. Then I got emotionally invested in the Jamie/Claire love story that took place and then started the criticism. Frank and Claire don’t necessarily seem to match. Claire is very independent. Frank is an ass. He spends their second honeymoon researching his ancestry and let’s face it, his family’s just as much of an ass as he is. I wonder why they got married in the first place. Was it a legitimate love or was it because the war was on and the benefits. Did the British army have benefits in World War II? I’m not sure. Or did a very young Claire lust after Frank and was determined enough to marry him, which doesn’t seem like her.

Another thing. I don’t think that they would have had a faithful marriage if Claire would have stayed. I think the reason they stayed together and happy as long as they did was because they were separated by the war and they didn’t know that Frank was sterile. (not that a baby would have kept them in love. I mean Frank loved Bri as his own and that didn’t help) I wonder how long it would have taken them to start sleeping around on each other if she hadn’t gone back to Jamie. I also want to know how long it took Frank to start sleeping with other women after Claire left. She was gone 3 years and I always got the impression he had slept with a decent amount of women in that time. How long did he look for Claire, how long did he mourn, how many women were there exactly? I kind of understand why they didn’t divorce after Claire got back. They needed each other professionally and it worked out well with Claire being pregnant. Not that Claire wouldn’t have rocked the single motherhood but it worked out for the best.

That’s all I have right now on the couple. I might make this a weekly or every other week thing, talking about Outlander. I may or may not be a nerd. If you haven’t noticed.

Band practice is cancelled. WHYYYYYYYYYY? That’s the highlight of my week.

Questions I Have.

I really don’t have the energy to keep on one subject so here’s questions I have for the universe.

Does someone want to explain to me what the lure of mason jars are? People are using them for weddings and utensils. To me, yeah, they’re useful but I’m not going to decorate a wedding with them. To me, why use them at a wedding unless you live in the mountains or a forest, not if you live in a city. Mason jars aren’t that great. Thanks.

And since we’re talking about weddings, what’s with the pouring sand in a jar. Yes, I get what it symbolizes but really? Let’s get the vows, short biblical story/message, rings, kiss the wench and we’re done. None of this extra stuff.

Why is phonetic not spelled phonetically? Phonetics doesn’t help me like ever making dictionaries like table levelers.

Why are decisions so hard? I don’t like them. They should be nice and soft and squishy. And I should call him squishy and he will be my squishy.

Where did the phrase “Caught between a Rock and a Hard Place” come from?

Why can’t I get a day off?

Who wants to come with me and steal Diana Gabaldon’s copy of her new novel that’s coming out next year? We can’t do that, no matter how desperate I am to continue the heroic saga of Jamie and Claire.

Does someone want to give me a fake beard and moooooooustache? I’m breaking out and I feel like a fake beard and moooooooustache would help my self-confidence right now. Which brings me to the question of: Who’s played Moustache bingo? If you haven’t played Moustache bingo, here’s how you play. You put a moustache on a random place on the television, where you normally wouldn’t have a moustache and whenever it hits the appropriate spot you yell BINGO. We used to play that at the bar of the Pizza Parlor in Medora and tourists thought we were crazy.

I can’t get my hair to keep curl. I have board hair. I put mousse in my hair and then I douse my hair with hair spray, like that hole, in the ozone layer, might be my fault and it’s still looks like a warped board at the end of the day. How does one keep curls or waves in one’s hair all day? I totally blame my father for this problem.

Who lets me drink juice by myself from something other than a sippie cup? I always dribble. You would think that at 25 I could drink without spilling juice through that hole in my mouth. I can’t. I’m failing at being an adult. First: I spill fluid out of my mouth and Second: I find out that fluid is non-spiked juice-a very not adult drink.

I lost a subscriber. Where’d you go. Come back. Let’s not break up. I’ll try harder to be a good….blogger. Yeah, probably not. But come BACK!

That’s all the questions I really have. Answer……………now.

Books I DO Like

I read a lot. I really do. I should stop reading for a while. No, I shouldn’t because reading keeps me sharp. And I learn stuff from it. Anyway, it’s just fair that since I talked about books that I didn’t like, I should talk about books I do like right? Right. Of course I’m right. Because I’m a fair person.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I promised that I would have a post specifically about this book. I promise that’s coming. I do. I promise but I’m having a hard time forming the words to make it happen and I have a large opinion of the book so I don’t what direction to go with. But I love Jane and I tolerate Mr. Rochester. Let’s be honest, he’s kind of a jerk. I was okay that he was blinded at the end and then the got together. I mean, I thought it was fitting. I love that Jane’s so independent and gets stronger through the book.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. This is a surprise right? It’s like I never talk about this series. I got the first one for fifty cents at a book sale. I’m so glad I did. I don’t want to say this book changed my life but it did start me reading books that were a lot smarter. This series expects more of me than just a pretty face. But a pretty face helps. But Jamie and Claire, Ian and Jenny, Young Ian and what’s her face and then for real with Rachel, Roger and Brianna. This series expects a lot out of me but it also expects a lot out of my future husband and our sex lives. No they don’t go over board with the sex. They talk about it enough and they’re all married. So it’s cool. It’s more about their lives. And LeWhore (not her real name, just what I call her) I’ve wanted to punch her since book one. She’s like a mosquito that doesn’t die. Then Frank and his ancestor that can’t keep it in his pants around men. Arg. Another book/series I could talk forever about.

Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West. This one takes place in Montana and is named after an actual event. The book is fiction but one of my librarians lived in the area that book takes place and she was telling me about how this incident actually happened and just hearing about it made me pout. It’s a sports book. I normally don’t read sports books and I don’t watch sports movies like “Remember the Titans” because they all end the same. The book did end the same as all of this genre but it was a good and interesting read. I think part of the reason I liked it was because I live so close to Montana that I know a lot of the places that are mentioned in the book. The writing doesn’t suck either. I think I really connected with the characters in this book. The best one is the foreign exchange student. He’s my favorite. I want one of my own.

The Fault in our Stars by John Green. Yay John Green. I talked about this not so long ago. I really was impressed that for a man he did a very good job of narrating from a 16-year-old girl’s point of view. I’m probably most impressed with that. It didn’t necessarily end the way I wanted it to but that’s okay. I like the monkey wrench. Read it. Read it. Read it. It’s sweet, it’s very much how teenagers with cancers would be. Not that I know any teens with cancer but you get the point, right?

The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I like the different narrators and the different voices. The voices are very distinct and I think the author did a good job of distinguishing the different sections. I did the audio book after I watched the movie and I’m glad that I did it. This is the first book that dealt with civil rights during this period. I have read books that took place in the civil war and there are slaves during like the Outlander series, but never during this point of MLK or any of the great civil rights leaders. I’m really glad I picked up the book.

The Five People you Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. This is a short book and I’m kind of liking the thought of it. I don’t think you actually meet only 5 people in Heaven, I think you meet more but it does make me think of who I would meet and who’s life I am involved in. I like that it’s the kind of book that really makes you think.

Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers. I had to read this for English my junior year of high school. It’s about this guy who goes and fights in Vietnam. Now, it’s been a while since I’ve read the book but I remember it just capturing my attention. Until then, Vietnam was something that happened and something I couldn’t relate to. This book brought it to life a little bit more for me. It’s a young adult novel but I would recommend it to like 15-16. You know, I feel like I didn’t have a normal reading list in high school. I didn’t read many of the classics. I didn’t read Of Mice and Men, I did get Animal Farm. I didn’t like that book.

That’s a list of my top books.

Funny Facebook Friend Post: Up until I was eight years old or so, I honestly thought that strip malls were malls where people would go shopping naked. I never really questioned it. I just figured adulthood was really weird and kinda confusing like that. The guy who said that is really entertaining and I used to work with him and we’d pick on him and always revoke his man card. We may have been a little mean to him. But he’s a winner.

So my FedEx man kind of looks like and definitely sounds like Josh Turner. He came in this morning. I’m surprised I’m not in a puddle by the door. That voice…….sigh. He’s a good-looking guy but it’s all about the voice. If you heard him, you’d understand. I would totally ask him to hang out but pretty sure he’d want to bring his wife that I think he has and I don’t want to deal with that.

There are Books I like. Just Not These

So I apologize for my posts being scattered lately. It’s just been a busy time around here, being tourist season, and scattered is all I can handle now. Let’s hope I can handle a one-tracked post today.

There are very few books I hate and very few books that I can’t finish. I think that since the author went through all the work of publishing a book, I should give them the respect of finishing their book. This doesn’t happen with all books of course but that number is going up the older I get. There are few books that I think are so bad, so horrible I defer people from reading them. But even then, there are people who enjoy books I don’t. And let’s say one thing straight: I don’t throw around the word hate very often. It’s a very strong word. Let’s run through some of the books I don’t like/couldn’t finish. (and I’m not including the Twilight series in this because that’s just a given that I can make fun of those books for days)

Animal Farm by George Orwell. I had to read this in high school so it was finished. I get what it’s about, I see the parallels between the farm and politics. But the pigs take over? Really? That’s not the animal I would have chosen George. But I’m not the published writer so I don’t have a say in making the parallels between pigs and politicians. Though there are some I can say look like pigs. People love this book. Why? Why do you love this book so? Maybe I’m just not politic minded enough. If I had to choose a satirical like novel of government and life it would totally be Gulliver’s Travels which I’m totally re-watching again.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire or any other of his books. Am I the only person in the world that doesn’t like this book(s)? I know I have this weird thing with the movies of the same subject but I can’t get through this book. I’ve tried several times. I get funny looks when I say I can’t get through it. Yeah, okay, must be me. I’ll take that.

Timeless by Pamela Diane King. My God. Can anyone get published? I know you can buy who in their right mind would promote this book? The writing is overly simple. I don’t care if it’s simple writing but if it’s overly simple, it’s insulting. And I’m scared for today’s youth if they can’t figure out who Danny Zucco is.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll. Yeah, no drugs here. I just didn’t like the writing, where’s the real story here. It’s a great idea, it’s just I don’t like how it was presented. I didn’t mind the cartoon version of it but I didn’t like the book. You should have gotten off the drugs Carroll. Crack is whack.

Twilight of the Superheroes by Deborah Eisenberg. What the crap is this book really about? I had to read this book in college and no one, even the professor, knew what was going on. Is Eisenberg related to Carroll? I am not a fan. Make this book make a little bit of sense. It’ll be more popular that way, I promise. Read it. Hate it. Join the party of haters.

Life in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez This wasn’t as bad but there were to many similar letters in the names and some of the things that took place I did raise my eyebrow. Not both eyebrows just one. It’s definitely not my kind of book. It’s great for someone, just not me. Is it because I just don’t understand literature from this culture. That could be it. I do find some of redeeming qualities in the book and the writing doesn’t suck but there was some plot stuff I didn’t like. This is another book I may be the only one in the world that doesn’t like it.

Nickeled and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. Ugh, please tell me some more how the middle class can’t survive. This was the campus read my freshman year of college and I felt like it was kind of whiny. Then the drama department also did it as a play that year. Not something I want to read about and then go see on stage. But I think I got extra credit if I went. So I did. I was so mad because there was one more campus read (Into the Wild) before I transferred and then I transfer and they do Sherman Alexie and that’s who I’ve been meaning to read for like ever. I was bitter. I’m still bitter.

I’ll eventually do a post of books I love (which does include Jane Eyre) because there is a decent amount of books I do love. And congratulations to me for making it through a post on a subject. Wha What!

Funny Facebook Friend Posting (check out that alliteration): Plot Twist: The Royal baby’s name is Simba and he just can’t wait to be king.
I was so close not to change subjects. But that’s the best thing ever.

I Do Have Smart Moments I Promise.

Not all of this may be me being smart but I am giving it a try.

This morning, I was talking to a fellow museum director and she was talking about this hotel room she recently booked. This hotel was left in shambles very suddenly by the former owners and the current owners are trying to get it back in order. This museum director said that she told them all she wants is a bed and a clean bathroom. I go, “And clean sheets, you want clean sheets”. The response: “Oh Megan, I’m glad you’re my friend”. I’m a thinker. And I worked in housekeeping in a tourist trap during the tourist season. I know what I want in a hotel room.

Recently, a high school friend of mine was named in the Bismarck Tribune’s 40 under 40. He is a young adult pastor at one of the churches in Bismarck. I could not be prouder of him. He’s done a lot of good and is amazing. He and a group just went to Chile for an outreach and I just saw pictures but it looked amazing. How many good things can I say in a short paragraph? Mmmmmmm, a lot.

I just recently stumbled upon a post by this woman and how her husband isn’t her soul mate. I had to read this because I was curious on how her husband wasn’t her soul mate. I was intrigued, let’s say that. I read through and I was impressed. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders. There were points I haven’t thought about. No one’s pointed them out to me before. And it’s not like these points are like super hard, they’re just not thought about. Go check her out.

I know I talk about guys to the point of being obnoxious some times. There are posts I want to punch myself because I’m so obnoxious when it comes to guys. Like boy really didn’t need as much time as I gave him. This post kind of gave me a reality check that, God doesn’t necessarily promise me a husband. Yeah he has a plan for me and he cares about the desires of my heart. But a husband doesn’t always fit into that vision that God has for me. I should realize that. A little bit more often actually.

And you know, it’s kind of funny. I rant and rave about fictional characters and how teenage girls are obsessed with them for being sparkly and immortal and a lot of them aren’t looking at the good guys like Darcy or Jamie Fraser. Pretty sure, I’m not that smart with guys in real life. Why don’t I rant about that? I have enough awkward encounters with people to fill up a life full of posts.

And since we’re talking about relationships. Last week I was at a meeting and one of the women is pregnant and she’s due like any day and her baby is breached and they were talking about it and I’m not sure I want a breached baby like ever. Or go through childbirth. My own birth might be enough for me. Watch, I get married and the first thing out of my mouth is “Let’s make a million babies”. I can totally see that happening.

Since I mentioned Jamie Fraser, book 8 comes out in 8 months. That’s under a year…….if you didn’t realize. I know that the 12 month calendar is a hard thing for some people because I know I never remember which months have 31 days. I’m just helping. I’m amazing like that. (You guys are learning a lot about me today. First I’m a thinker, then I’m amazing. Who knows what’s next?) Ian and Rachel are going to get together, Jamie (I think) forgives Claire and Lord John for getting married because they thought he was dead and Claire needed some male protection because she’s too ballsy and gets herself in trouble. That makes Claire a polygamist. And it also means Claire is Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser Gray. And if we’re being technical, there should be another Randall after Fraser because she went back to Frank when she came back to the present. Confusing? Not if you’ve read the Outlander series. I would hate to be her if she had to fill out a scan-tron.

I finished listening to High Five by Janet Evanovich and started listening to Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. Remember me talking about these audio books? With the Muppet voices and the accents? Yeah, I’m continuing the insanity. But in my defense, I need something to listen to when I’m working. Alone. In a museum. So judge all you want.

Last night (or band night as I like to call it) I saw a friend that I haven’t seen in 3 years or since she graduated high school. She moved to Oklahoma and we just keep missing each other so I was super excited to see her. And she’s one of like 3 red-headed friends, making her special and maybe magic.

Remember when I said that there is another trombone player that’s this kind of old guy and he’s good in band? He was there last night for like the second time all summer and he struggled. I have never seen him like this. He couldn’t count, he seemed dazed. I was surprised and okay with my insignificance.

Well, I know that was kind of roaming in subject but that is my life. I am kind of a roamer and, in my opinion, entertaining. (yes, that’s vain. Deal with it.)

I’ve Been Reading Again!

I love my librarians. I walked in this afternoon and I looked for the librarian and said hello to Petra and she said, “Just the girl I wanted to see”. I’m automatically nervous when anyone says that. It makes me think I’m in trouble. But I wasn’t in trouble. I got a book…..for FREEEEEEEEE. She game me a 1932 copy of A Book of English Literature Third Edition Volume II. The reason I got it is because she knew I appreciate literature like this and she didn’t want to put the book in the book sale room because it wouldn’t sell. Free book for me! YAY! And there’s notes in the margins. I love when I find books with notes in the margins. They are another insight to a piece of work. Other insights are one thing I miss about college. It was priced at $2.80 at one time and it was in Jamestown ND at one time. That’s about 300 miles away. I have always wondered the travels and people that these books have seen.

One time, right after I declared my English Major-dom, I took British Literature 2. (I took the second part of Brit and American before the first part) We were discussing The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. We had a quick quiz on it and then we discussed the quiz. I remember this very quite clearly, I was sitting next to Joy, an older than average student, and across from the instructor. The instructor asked what the meaning of the poem was. (value every creature, big or small) First thing out my mouth before anyone else could answer “Don’t kill the bird”. Joy busted out laughing and I know the instructor wanted to laugh but she kept a straight face and almost threw a pen at me because it was a smart ass answer. I totally kept that class entertaining.

Yesterday, I had to open the museum for a group for a unguided tour and use of the meeting room. All I had to do was collect money and sit up front to answer questions. So I read. I read Lindy’s version of Beastly. It was okay. Didn’t like it as much as Beastly. I also started reading one of the Wizard of Oz books. I’m okay with reading the books but the movies aren’t good for me. I wish I had more time like this to just read.

I’m now listening to High Five by Janet Evanovich which is one of the Stephanie Plumb books. I like this series. It’s not a series that I can read or like to read all the time but their still entertaining. I like that they’re not overly complex and I know who to trust and I can figure out who the killer is and how they did it. I’ve always been good at that. Except with Panic. You couldn’t trust anyone in that book.

Entertaining family story: I called home on Saturday and was talking to my mom. We had a small fire in one of fields. Not a big deal, only a little bit of land burned. (never mind my dad got burned feet through his boots and my brother flipped the four-wheeler. They’re both fine) So we were talking about crop insurance. Now I do have a few planters with a few plants out side of my apartment and right after we talk about crop insurance I started talking my plants. My mom started laughing. Her mind didn’t flip as fast as I changed the subject and she thought I had crop insurance on my plants.

Project updates: I finished embroidering pillow cases yesterday and started another pair last night.

Boy update: No update on boy because we’re not talking. I did just describe his texts as ghetto. I can’t date a guy who I describe their texts that way. Be educated and hold a conversation. But there’s this guy at church that I kind of talked about before, a long time ago. My friend R thinks he’s stalking me, I’m not so convinced. Then I thought I saw him at the movie. False alarm. Then we had a $1 bet to see if he was in church or not. I voted not and I won. YAY!

This is the start of a few weeks that is non-stop. I’m not excited. Anyone want to come hang out and help me survive this?

Random Antics

The other night I was texting my friend MJ. I knew she was up to something when she said “Hey English Major, want a challenge?” How do you turn that down? You don’t. I always know when she (or anyone else) wants something because it always starts with “Hey English Major”. Never “Hi Friend” always English Major.So I help her and through a series of events throughout the night we end up be hermits in the mountains with a razor and tents because living in boxes isn’t cool. Then we find a cave with blankies, pillows and a fire. And that’s where we’re going to live and not be adults because adulthood is way overrated. What if you had to die at like 23? Like that was the life expectancy. When would adulthood begin?

Then R and I started texting. We have long texting conversations when her son is visiting his dad/dad’s family. We started talking about how her 7-year-old son kissed a girl and I told her about how my 5-year-old nephew kissed one and how he was getting more play than me. We went for pizza and The Heat last night. It was good. There’s a lot of cursing but still funny. Pizza and movie is like our hang out night. We passed one of the gas stations when we were cruising around town before the movie and there was a group of people hanging out and we were insulted that the cool kids didn’t invite us to their party. We are legit. We got over it though because we’re obviously too cool.

So today the church I went to when I was in college was down doing some inflatable games and getting ready for their tent meetings this coming week. I showed up for a while and I feel like they put me to work or I put myself to work putting strings on balloons. I’m not sure who thought that was a good idea. I’m not good with balloons. I can’t blow them up, tie the knots and the strings are debatable. Maybe I shouldn’t be helping kids which leads to should I have kids? Maybe, I should reconsider having a big family.

I finished The Panic by Jeff Abbott. Everything was concluded and you know how everything pans out and who was good or bad and who to trust or not but I still feel like I don’t trust anyone. It could almost overflow into my real life. Like, good luck trusting my parents. They might work for secret agencies. And usually I’m a romantic but I didn’t want him to end up with what’s her face. I wanted them to part ways amicably or die or something. Overall, it wasn’t a bad book. Decent writing, pretty good story line but you did have a hard time deciding who was good or not. Maybe that’s just me because I was listening to it at work.

I feel like I have nothing to talk about my life because I’ve been so busy at work. Work has kind overtaken my life. So that’s why I haven’t blogged as much. I work, go to meetings, eat and go to sleep. That’s all I do.